So let’s start with this tweet from @BrandonStraka …
In other words … this guy …
This is not a protest, nor is it traditional art. Instead this is performative grifting by a con artist.
Pictured above you can see Brandon at CPAC sitting in a fake jail cell. He is dressed in a janitorial orange jumpsuit and a MAGA hat.
For his performance he just cried. No speech, he literally just sat and sobbed.
Those passing by were asked to put on headphones to listen to the stories of convicted Jan 6 insurrectionists.
This is not just grifting, or even grifting on steroids, but also a lot more. There is a real doozy coming up.
Who exactly is Brendon Straka?
He is a New York hairstylist and political activist who founded the #WalkAway campaign in 2018 to encourage liberals to leave the Democratic Party.
He has vigorously pushed the “Stolen Election” lie and has also been very active within the Stop The Steal rally.
On Jan 6th he was part of the mob that marched on the Capitol and attacked it. Within videos of the attack Mr Straka can be seen urging rioters to take away a Capitol Police officer’s riot shield. He can also be heard shouting “Take it away! Take it away from him!“. He is also alleged to have shouted “We’re going in” and “Go, go!” to attackers entering the Capitol.
For his part in all of this he was tracked down to Nebraska on Jan 25th, then arrested and charged.
He is not now in jail and never went to jail, so what happened?
He did a plea deal.
His part is well documented, within the statement of offense that he himself signed, you can find all the above details and more.
In exchange for providing considerable testimony to the investigators about the other defendants he avoided jail. To be specific, the sealed (at the time) now unsealed records reveal …
Straka provided “significant information” about pro-Trump “Stop The Steal” organizers including Ali Alexander, Amy and Kylie Kremer, and Cindy Chafian. Prosecutors said Straka provided investigators with a voicemail he had received from another Jan. 6 defendant, and that evidence was “valuable in the government’s prosecution.” In another instance, the records say Straka helped identify yet another potential suspect who “was not previously identified by the FBI.”
Let Me Play that back for you
Here is Brandon leveraging the trauma being endured by Jan 6 insurrectionists currently in jail to simply grift and also promote the big stolen election lie.
These are the same insurrectionists that are now in jail because he himself ratted them out to save his own skin.
It gets worse
On Aug 4th 2022, NPR reported this …
A judge unleashed a tirade on a prominent Jan. 6 defendant for his post-plea comments
…
Straka moved with the crowd to the steps of the Capitol building during the Jan. 6 riot and was filming on his smartphone. According to a statement of offense Straka signed and agreed to as part of his plea, he yelled “go, go, go” as members of the mob tried to enter the building, and said “take it, take it,” after rioters grabbed a shield from a police officer. Straka never entered the Capitol building, and left shortly afterwards.
That evening, as officers were trying to clear the Capitol building, Straka tweeted“Patriots at the Capitol – HOLD. THE. LINE!!!!” He later said that he did not understand the full extent of the violence when he tweeted that comment.
At his sentencing hearing, Straka said he was “deeply sorry and shameful for being present at an event that sent members of Congress running in fear to evacuate a building.”
He also expressed remorse for the incident involving the shield.
“I want to apologize to all members of the Capitol Police whose safety was put in danger by the unruly mob, in particular the police officer whose shield can be seen in my video being grabbed by members of the crowd,” Straka told the court.
Since then, however, Straka has been active on social media and making the rounds in conservative media. And, in Judge Friedrich’s view, he has made “questionable comments regarding the truth of his plea.”
…
“I suggest that you tell him to exercise some discretion that he didn’t show before Jan. 6, during Jan. 6, and apparently after Jan. 6,” Friedrich said. “And also inform him that I will be asking probation for periodic status reports about his performance on supervision.”
She added, “I expect that what I hear from these reports to be different in nature than what has been brought to my attention in recent days.”
It is distinctly possible that if Brandon keeps going on his current path, he may find that he will swap his performative orange suit and fake jail cell for the real deal.
Then he really will be crying.
Is Brandon being Persecuted?
Seriously no.
The word he needs to reach for is “ridiculed”, or perhaps “mocked”.
It all truly does give an entirely new spin, a wholly appropriate one, to the phrase “Let’s Go Brandon”.